Fans immediately took to social media and various websites — including Twitter and Reddit — with howls of indignation as the network attempted to fix the issue. Meanwhile, staffers urged patience from the angry subscribers and promoted other means of accessing the episode.

Looks like there's trouble in the realm. Apologies for the inconvenience. We'll be providing updates, so please stay tuned. #GameofThrones

"HBO Go did experience issues due to overwhelming demand around the premiere of Game of Thrones. The service has returned to several platforms and we are working hard towards full recovery, which we expect soon," the network said in a subsequent statement.

The service was fully restored later Sunday evening, according to HBO.

This latest breakdown occurred less than a month after a similar crash left many fans stranded during the finale of the acclaimed new dramatic miniseries True Detective.